However, despite the differences in strategy and product, they all share a similar question: who holds the kegs? For years, the answer was either buy kegs – tying up capital in depreciating steel – or rent them from a standalone lessor, one contract at a time. North Keg, an Ontario company founded in 2017, offered a better solution. And in April 2026, that solution got significantly bigger.

North Keg joined Evaaro’s international keg-pooling platform alongside ekeg (U.K. and Ireland) and Keg Logistics (U.S.), creating a unified multi-country network spanning five markets and nearly 3,000 brewers worldwide. For Canadian brewers, the practical effect is simple to describe but hard to replicate: the keg you need is now part of a system, not a contract or a standalone asset.

The origin: two friends, one problem

North Keg was founded in 2017 by two recent college graduates who regularly frequented a beloved craft beer bar in Halifax, N.S., and shared a fascination for the world of craft beer. After exploring the idea of starting their own brewery, they ran into the same wall that stops many first-time producers before they pour a single pint: steel.

Traditionally, brewers purchase a fleet of kegs. But owning kegs is both expensive and risky. Industry data shows that craft brewers typically lose five to 10 per cent of their float each year to theft, misplacement, account closures and other supply chain issues. For some brewers, that can add up to tens of thousands of dollars annually in lost assets that need to be replaced to maintain and grow the business.

“Because kegs are considered revolving assets, constantly moving through the distribution loop, they’re seen as risky. We figured there had to be a better way for brewers to do business,” said North Keg CEO Matt Wowchuk. “Looking at how keg management was being done in the U.S., we approached a few local brewers to see if they would lease some kegs from us, and we received a unanimous ‘YES’ in response. Within six months, we did our first deal, and it’s been steady growth ever since.”

Why pooling beats ownership

The distinction between leasing and pooling isn’t a technicality. Similar to ownership, in a leasing model, a specific keg is matched to a specific customer on a specific contract. The brewer is responsible for tracking the keg and collecting it back from the market. When demand shifts, the brewer has limited options. If demand shifts up, they can lease more kegs, often triggering a new contract. If demand shifts downward, they often have to sit on empty kegs until the contract ends and they can return them.

Pooling works differently. The brewer orders the amount they need from a shared pool of kegs. They don’t have to worry about tracking or collecting it back from the market. When demand shifts up or down, pooling is flexible. The brewer simply orders what they need. “Our pooling model works because we already have strong keg density in each market. We can pull kegs out of distributors much faster and immediately reposition them to a nearby brewery that needs them,” said Wowchuk.

Distributors benefit from pooling as well, and Canada’s geography makes this difference especially meaningful. A keg shipped from Toronto to northern Ontario is a 12-hour trip. A national shipment takes longer still. Under a traditional ownership model, empties sit at distribution centres until there are enough to justify a truck back to the brewery, leaving idle inventory that takes up space and generates no revenue, while freight costs continue to rise.

In North Keg’s pooling model, when an empty keg is collected from the market back to a distributor in Toronto, it doesn’t wait to accumulate into a full truck before heading home to a single brewery. The keg goes back into the pool, available to whichever brewer in the network needs it next. “Our pooling program eliminates those burdens,” said Wowchuk. “Rather than a keg being shipped out full and then making a long trip back empty, it stays in circulation.”

Size flexibility is another key part of North Keg’s adaptive pooling operation. Breweries that started on 50-litre kegs and now need 20-litre or 30-litre kegs can swap formats without writing off a capital purchase. The pool holds multiple formats; the brewer draws what the season requires.

“You might start with mostly 50-litre kegs, then realize you need 20- or 30-litre formats,” said Korey Nyp, director of sales at North Keg. “If you buy your kegs outright, you’re locked into those sizes. But with North Keg’s pooling model, you can return the 50s and switch to the sizes you need, when you need them.”

The network advantage: What joining Evaaro changes

A pooling network becomes more valuable as it grows. More kegs in more locations means faster fulfilment, more redundancy and the ability to absorb shocks that a bilateral leasing arrangement simply cannot handle.

“Joining this global platform allows us to further solidify North Keg as the benchmark leasing and pooling option for all Canadian customers,” said Wowchuk. “With enhanced access to growth capital, we are doubling down on our commitment to the Canadian market, offering world-class resources combined with the dedicated local expertise our customers trust.”

We know the business of kegs inside and out, which allows our customers to focus on what they do best: brewing their beer.

Korey Nyp, North Keg

The pooling’s practical implications are immediately apparent. Because North Keg’s keg pool has density across multiple Canadian markets, it can retrieve empties from distributors much faster than a brewer managing its own fleet could. That faster turn translates directly into fewer kegs needed to cover the same production volume, with lower costs and less capital at risk.

“We know the business of kegs inside and out, which allows our customers to focus on what they do best: brewing their beer,” said Nyp. “Our pooling model provides a much deeper and more collaborative relationship with our brewers. We succeed only when our customers do as well.”

What the brewer is actually buying

The financial side of pooling might be the biggest benefit: no capital tied up in steel, no idle fleet sitting on a balance sheet through the quiet months and costs that flex with demand rather than running ahead of it. “Cash is king in any business, and there are many other productive uses for cash rather than buying and storing steel kegs,” said Wowchuk.

Moreover, what brewers are buying is not a keg at all. It’s the certainty of supply – the assurance that the right format will be available when the season demands it, without a renegotiation, without waiting for a truckload of empties to justify a return run, and without the logistics headaches that have historically consumed so much of a small brewery’s operating bandwidth. For smaller craft producers, access to a professionally managed fleet removes the most capital-intensive barrier to entering the draught channel. For larger breweries, it turns a logistics burden into a managed service – one that scales up for peak season and down again without a single renegotiation.

Rooted in the Canadian brewing community

North Keg’s growth has always been tied to its involvement in the industry it serves. The company is a proud sponsor of the Canadian Craft Brewers Association’s Canada Beer Cup, a national competition celebrating independently owned and operated breweries across the country. North Keg’s Québec and Eastern Canada sales representative served as the emcee for the Canada Beer Cup Awards Gala in 2025 and is proudly returning in 2026.

The team also maintains active relationships with local guilds and provincial craft brewer associations, attends trade shows and participates in the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (Canada chapter). “Beyond that, I’m regularly in touch with various trade boards and industry groups to understand how we can continue improving the landscape for brewers,” said Wowchuk.

Looking ahead

North Keg is in the middle of a strategic rebrand, which will be reflected in the coming months. The rebrand positions the company around four core pillars: keg servicing, tracking, leasing and pooling.

“If you look at our long-term vision, we’re not trying to be a five-year company; we’re aiming to be a 50-year company,” said Wowchuk. “This rebrand is designed to clearly show what we do best: our ability to fully service a keg from top to bottom, track it throughout its lifecycle, lease it to producers and integrate it into a broader pooling network. That’s how we will continue to ease the burden for our customers for years to come.”

For Canadian brewers navigating a competitive market, a tight labour environment and the persistent capital demands of a steel-intensive supply chain, the question is less about pooling and more about who to pool with. North Keg’s answer – now backed by an international platform and the density that comes with it – is increasingly hard to ignore.

This article was sponsored by North Keg.

While Canadians are used to paying taxes for goods and services, they might be surprised to learn that over 50 per cent of the sticker price on a bottle of alcohol comes from government taxes.

Understanding Canada’s alcohol taxation system is complex, as it involves multiple layers of taxation from the federal excise duty, which is levied at the point of production or import and becomes part of the wholesale cost of a product. Then there is the provincial markup rate, which varies widely from province to province.

On top of these taxes are the buyer’s sales taxes. Products with higher alcohol percentages, such as spirits and refreshment beverages, are generally taxed at a higher rate than products with lower alcohol percentages, such as beer and wine.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan have moved to fully privatize their liquor stores, whereas other provinces still maintain government-controlled liquor stores. These government monopolies charge higher markup rates, resulting in higher retail prices for consumers. Canada’s heavy tax system and bureaucratic hurdles have pushed many alcohol brands to the brink of survival; some have introduced lower-alcohol options, while others have adapted by selling outside of the country.

Stifling craft industry growth

In British Columbia, 2025 saw 20 breweries close due to softening demand, rising costs and over-taxation. Ken Malenstyn, one of the owners of Barnside Brewing in Ladner, B.C., says the provincial markup rates are the cause of “killing B.C. craft breweries.” Malenstyn says that if the markup model were fair, craft breweries would be able to pay their employees and invest in growing their businesses by expanding distribution and setting more competitive prices. “All these things would help make craft breweries more sustainable, and to continue generating revenue for the government and hiring more employees,” said Malenstyn.

Even long-established breweries, such as Lighthouse Brewing, which operated for 27 years, have had to close permanently. “There’s something wrong when that’s happening. So, it’s not just the small guys … there’s just a lot of good operators that aren’t able to survive because they’re constantly having to put their own money back in the brewery to keep it going,” said Malenstyn.

In summer 2025, the BC Craft Brewers Guild pitched reforms, titled Protect BC Craft Beer, to reduce the tax burden on small, local producers. “For most small breweries, we’re paying 40 cents a litre for every litre we produce before we sell anything, and that’s just for the right to be in the industry,” Malenstyn said. “And for a lot of us, it could be 10 per cent of our revenue.” The Guild told Victoria News that these reforms would be revenue-neutral for the government and help save B.C. craft breweries approximately $16.3 million annually.

Classification disputes

A few years prior to launching Edna’s Non-Alcoholic Cocktails, Nick Devine envisioned a brand of alcoholic beer-based cocktails. Devine had 20 pallets worth of these canned beer cocktails manufactured by a local Vancouver brewery. At the time, the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Board (BCLDB) disagreed with Devine’s classification of the product as a beer. Beer markups are based on production volume, and for small producers producing 15,000 hectolitres or less, the markup would be 40 cents per litre. The BCLDB wanted to classify Devine’s product as a refreshment beverage, which would have significantly increased the markup rate to 73 per cent per litre.

The dispute dragged on for months before Devine was permitted to sell the inventory he had already produced. By then, the project had become a financial loss for Devine and left him feeling demoralized. Armed with the lessons he had learned from his beer-based cocktail venture, Devine later left the alcohol space and went on to launch a successful line of non-alcoholic cocktails. His experience with the BCLDB underscores how challenging it can be for new, unconventional products to navigate a system built around the long-established product classifications of the liquor distribution board.

Evolving into the low alcohol market

Olivia Lovenmark-Hay launched Duchess Cocktails in 2020 with a 12 per cent ABV bottled cosmopolitan. “With tax being 55 per cent of our shelf price, it is a significant aspect when it comes to pricing. It really makes creating a premium product or a higher quality product much more challenging because the cost of what you are selling goes up so significantly,” said Lovenmark-Hay. She is now preparing to launch a low alcohol line of canned ready-to-drink spritzes.

It really makes creating a premium product or a higher quality product much more challenging because the cost of what you are selling goes up so significantly.

Olivia Lovenmark-Hay, Duchess Cocktails

Lovenmark-Hay says that her 12 per cent ABV cocktails were “much better to sip at home … but by offering something that’s lower ABV at five per cent, [we’re] really expanding the use cases and the people who are more interested in [our] product.”

Another benefit of producing a series of lower per cent ABV drinks is the considerably lower federal excise duty. As of April 1, 2026, spirits containing not more than seven per cent absolute ethyl ABV have an excise duty of $0.358 per litre, whereas spirits containing more than seven per cent absolute ABV are $14.117 per litre. Duchess Cocktails will be able to offer their spritzes at a more cost-friendly price point for potential customers. The stark difference in excise duty rates for products below and above seven per cent ABV also underpins how these arbitrary rules dictate the types of products presented to customers in stores.

Diversifying into other markets

Nathan Flim, founder of The Fort Distillery in Alberta, has expanded his business into several U.S. states and Taiwan. Remarkably, Flim found it more difficult to get his products into other Canadian provinces’ government-run liquor stores than into the U.S. For Film, the extensive paperwork and application process for each liquor distribution board was challenging, and the small market size in some provinces made the hassle of applying not worth it. He made more revenue selling his products in the U.S. than selling to provinces such as B.C. or Ontario, where alcohol taxation is heaviest.

Dalia Kohen, the founder of Wildfolk, a brand of non-alcoholic botanical cocktails, also began expanding into the U.S. The initial process was smooth, but after Aug. 29, 2025, when the U.S. implemented tariffs that removed the “de minimis” exemption allowing shipments valued at $800 USD or less to enter the country duty-free, Kohen began having many of her shipments returned. She found that even with the correct paperwork, her products would still be sent back, often damaged and no longer in sellable condition. Kohen has since focused her efforts on growing in B.C. and Alberta.

Helping the little guy

At the Stratford-Fox Run Distillery in Ottawa, master distiller Adam Brierley says that in Ontario, the federal excise tax is indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index. Through government intervention, the tax is currently capped at two per cent per year. “Every April 1st, it becomes something that distilleries have to consider. Do we want to eat that as part of our cost of goods … or do we increase every year by the two per cent component of the excise tax year over year over year?” said Brierley.

Stratford-Fox Run Distillery has generally chosen to absorb the increase each year to avoid the perception that they are changing their prices on a whim. “Our whisky, for example, has been available for $44.95 for the last three years,” said Brierley.

On top of the federal excise duty is Ontario’s provincial markup rate of 61.5 per cent. Then there are the environmental fees, a volume levy and a 13 per cent Harmonized Sales Tax. “We all need to pay tax in one way or another in order to fund all the services that we enjoy,” Brierley admitted, but he says he would like to see the government offer more tax incentives to support smaller, local producers.

“I think if you ask any distiller in Ontario, we are all very envious of what the distillers in B.C. enjoy from their governments,” he said.

In B.C., spirit producers that use 100 per cent B.C. agricultural ingredients and maintain a production level under 100,000 litres per year can qualify as “craft distillers.” This designation allows them to avoid the standard BCLDB wholesale markup. In Ontario, there is no exemption for the use of Ontario-grown ingredients. “We get taxed the same as the big guys, whereas the cost of labour and cost of goods is going to be a lot higher in comparison,” said Brierley.

The economies of scale clearly favour larger producers, so Brierley would like to see the Ontario government implement a program similar to B.C.’s to give smaller players, such as himself, a chance to compete.

There are a host of factors pushing Canadians to drink less alcohol. Inflation and rising grocery prices have forced many to cut back on luxuries, such as alcohol, to save money. Many Canadians are also prioritizing their mental and physical health, which has led to a rise in moderation mindsets such as the sober curious movement. Consumers’ focus on health and wellness has also contributed to the rise of functional beverages, drinks with ingredients that offer added health benefits.

An Ansira report, 2026 Alcohol Trends, found that alcohol consumption fell from 67 per cent in 2022 to 54 per cent in 2025 in the United States. In 2026, alcohol consumption is expected to continue its downward trend, as low- and no-alcohol beverages continue to gain a greater share of the market.

How moderation mindsets are reshaping drinking culture

Sober curiosity is when a person tries to be more mindful of their alcohol consumption and tries to reduce or stop drinking alcohol. This lifestyle change is rooted in re-evaluating society’s drinking norms, living a healthier lifestyle and embracing NA options. Younger generations, especially Gen Z, are leading this movement, as they are choosing to simply not drink alcohol.

A 2025 report on the Sober Curious Movement by Circana stated that “65 per cent of American Gen Zers planned to drink less in 2025, and 39 per cent planned to adopt a dry lifestyle not just during January, but during all of 2025.”

For Angela Hansen, the founder and owner of Mocktails – Vancouver’s first exclusive NA bottle shop – creating an entirely alcohol-free store was a deeply personal matter. Hansen struggled with an unhealthy relationship with alcohol for many years. When she quit drinking, she wanted to find NA options that could replace the routine and experience of drinking alcohol. During this period, Hansen also noticed many people in her life slowing down their alcohol consumption and saw the trend of ‘zebra striping,’ the practice of alternating between NA and alcoholic drinks, becoming more commonplace in social settings.

Hansen was blown away by the products available, but realized that an exclusively alcohol-free store like Mocktails didn’t exist in Vancouver. “I felt there was a space that needed to be filled for people to have that exclusivity and that inclusive place for people to come and buy NA products without the pressure of alcohol,” she said.

At her store, Hansen sees firsthand the changes in consumers’ drinking habits. Her customer base is diverse and includes the sober and sober-curious, people in recovery, pregnant women, new parents, and both older and younger generations. She sees the older Gen Xers like herself who overindulged in their youth and are making lifestyle changes that include not drinking anymore. Then there are the younger generations, many of whom don’t drink to begin with.

“In my generation, we used alcohol as a medication. [Now], you aren’t ostracized anymore because you are choosing not to drink. It is becoming more common not to drink or drink less,” Hansen said.

Hansen reflects on how many of her older customers have been recommended by their doctors to stop drinking or are taking medications that interact with alcohol. However, these older generations have developed a routine of drinking after work. “That kind of hand-to-mouth ritual is important to the older generation, especially,” Hansen said, so she is proud that people can come into her store and find an NA alternative that allows them to continue their routine.

Hansen says she also finds that the growing selection and quality of NA products are making it easier for consumers to make healthier choices, and that NA alternatives often taste as good, or better, than their alcoholic counterparts. She also sees NA products as contributing to more inclusive spaces. Having struggled with an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, Hansen explains that for her, going out for a drink isn’t about looking for a buzz. Rather, she is “just looking for the ritual and the taste of it and the experience.”

When she goes to a restaurant and sees NA options beyond soda and juice on the menu, it makes her feel thought of and included.

Crafting beverages for under-served demographics

When Olivia Lovenmark-Hay, founder of Duchess Cocktails, became pregnant, she quickly realized that she could no longer enjoy the beautiful cocktails that she loved so much. “I hate to say it – it sounds naïve – but all of a sudden it opened my eyes that a good chunk of the population is going to go through pregnancy and they might like an alternative,” she said.

At the time, Lovenmark-Hay was working on creating NA equivalents of her existing cocktail lineup. When she launched her NA cocktails in fall 2023, she received many messages from pregnant women and new moms who were grateful for the NA options, as they could continue enjoying cocktails without worrying about the effects of alcohol. Lovenmark-Hay specifically designed her brand with midlife women in mind. “It is an underserved demographic, and it is an audience that prioritizes quality and experience,” she said.

At the time, Lovenmark-Hay didn’t see herself represented in the products available and was motivated to create Duchess Cocktails to meet women where they were at in life. Whether they were looking to become pregnant, already pregnant, menopausal, or simply prioritizing wellness in their lives, “all these life changes dictate what they eat and drink,” she said.

Her instincts proved correct, as a report released by Circana highlighted the increasing popularity of NA drinks among American women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. “In 2023, 25 per cent of women who gave birth within the last three years had an NA drink while pregnant or nursing. In 2024, that percentage jumped to 39…,” the report stated.

Staying competitive in hybrid drinking occasions

To better meet her customers where they are at, Lovenmark-Hay is expanding the Duchess portfolio to include spritzers and sodas. Her current line-up of cocktails is packaged in glass bottles and has a minimum ABV of 12 per cent. Duchess spritzers will have a lower alcohol content and be packaged in cans for easier transportability. The Duchess spritzer and soda are meant to provide more affordable options to complement her premium offerings.

Diversifying her product offerings into low- and no-alcohol categories is also a strategic decision, as she sees consumer behaviours shifting in that direction and wants to stay ahead of the competition. Current data backs her up, as “2024 saw another year of double-digit volume growth for low- and no-alcohol in Canada. The forecasted volume… for no-alcohol beverages between 2024 and 2028 is up seven per cent” (IWSR). Growth in this category is primarily attributed to younger demographics and moderation mindsets.

Lovenmark-Hay says she isn’t too worried about NA beverages lowering the rate of alcohol consumption. She finds that consumers are instead becoming more educated about how they drink and what drink options are available to them. For example, consumers are moving towards hybrid drinking occasions where, instead of only drinking alcoholic or NA products, they may choose to enjoy both types of products on the same night, so that they won’t have a hangover the next day.

Wellness is becoming more significant in shaping consumers’ drinking habits, so “now we are just giving them an option to drink when they don’t want alcohol,” said Lovenmark-Hay. She wants her products to remove the stigma of not drinking alcohol in social settings by giving people NA alternatives that look and feel the same as alcoholic offerings. “If there isn’t a difference between what you are choosing, I think people feel more relieved and relaxed, and I think it allows people to have a good time on their own terms, which is really important in social settings,” said Lovenmark-Hay.

Why RTDs are continuing to outperform traditional categories

Globally, the ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage market is projected to grow by 116.45 per cent over the next 10 years, increasing from $35.14 billion in 2025 to $76.06 billion in 2035, according to a report from Business Research Insights. Spirit-based RTDs are particularly dominant in this category, accounting for 79.8 per cent of the total volume, according to Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

Susie Goldspink, head of RTD insights at IWSR, noted in RTDs Strategic Study 2025 that the greatest opportunities for growth lie in markets where RTDs are already established, with Canada being a prime example.

The growing popularity of RTDs is due to several factors, such as their accessibility and portability. Rather than going out to a bar or gathering the supplies and ingredients needed to make a cocktail at home, consumers can simply enjoy a cocktail in a can. RTDs are also versatile and can be served in restaurants and bars or taken away for off-premises consumption. Aside from its convenience, the RTD industry is producing exciting new flavour profiles that continue to captivate consumers.

Nick Devine, the cofounder of Edna’s Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Co., has successfully merged the popularity of RTDs with the rising demand for NA beverages. His brand of NA and RTD cocktails is now sold nationally across Canada and the U.S. While the brand began locally in Vancouver, B.C., Devine says his sales revenue from the U.S. has now surpassed his Canadian sales, thanks to a partnership with Target.

Reflecting on his business’s beginnings, Devine recalls his early efforts to persuade bars and liquor stores to stock his NA cocktails in 2021. He often received confused and incredulous looks from potential buyers, who reminded him that they were in liquor establishments. Since then, the NA space has grown significantly, with more bars and restaurants now catering to NA consumers.

“There is a proper section in their menu now. You rarely saw that five years, 10 years ago, but now, all of a sudden, it is almost commonplace,” said Devine. He believes that Gen Z’s preferences for NA beverages, amplified by social media, have made not drinking mainstream. “All of a sudden it’s cool not to drink, whereas it used to be – almost twenty years ago – you were almost outcast if you said you didn’t drink,” he said.

Devine believes consumers “are coming to the realization that you can still have fun and maintain a fun lifestyle, and social lifestyle, and do it without booze. You aren’t going to have a hangover, but it’s got the body and feel of a proper cocktail, which is kind of what people want. It’s that habit. They don’t want to sit there with a sweetened sugary soda pop. They want a proper drink.”

Challenges of entering the NA and RTD categories

For those thinking of entering the low- and no-alcohol space, a major challenge is creating a beverage that mimics the taste and body of real alcohol. Edna’s Non-Alcoholic Cocktails Co. uses shrubs, concentrated syrups that contain fruit, sugar and vinegar, to mimic the bite of alcohol. They also use specially formulated extracts to add greater complexity to the flavour of their NA cocktails.

Devine’s background as a professional bartender made it easy for him to develop NA cocktail recipes. However, he found the process of adapting bar recipes into shelf-stable canned products to be a steep learning curve and had to enlist the help of a food scientist to finalize his recipes.

Another challenge cited by both Lovenmark-Hay and Devine was the difficulty of finding co-packers for their products. Devine eventually found a suitable co-packer in the neighbouring province of Alberta. Lovenmark-Hay’s search for a co-packer was far more difficult, as her packaging was too unique for most co-packers to handle. Although it would have been far simpler to change her packaging to meet a co-packer’s requirements, she was confident that her unique packaging would help her stand out from other RTD products on the market. This led her to establish her own production facility for Duchess Cocktails, where she now provides co-packing services for other brands as well.

Despite the challenges of developing her NA cocktails, Lovenmark-Hay says she is grateful for the growth of the NA sector. She notes that it has made her brand more accessible, enhanced brand awareness and created more sales opportunities. “We have people that start with our [NA products], then move into our alcohol and vice versa, so that part has been awesome in growing our audience,” said Lovenmark-Hay.

The future of NA beverages

In 2023, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction released a report stating that “no amount or kind of alcohol is good for your health” and consuming more than two drinks per week significantly increases the risk of developing several different types of cancer. This news caused many Canadians to seriously re-examine their drinking habits. As Canadians have decreased their alcohol consumption, they have increasingly turned towards NA alternatives. In fact, 62 per cent of consumers stated that they selected foods and beverages with health in mind, according to a report by Ansira.

As a result, the functional food and beverage market is projected to grow by 10.33 per cent to $793.6 billion by 2032. With health and wellness now a consumer priority, a new category of NA drinks has emerged: functional beverages.

Functional beverages are often designed to target a specific wellness goal, such as improving immunity, focus, digestion, or energy. Beverages such as prebiotic and probiotic sodas, vitamin-infused water and beverages with adaptogens are growing in popularity as beverage producers tap into consumers’ desire to use food as medicine. Lovenmark-Hay also thinks that as consumers become more educated, the market will move towards a preference for higher-quality ingredients, less artificial flavouring and colours and more natural products.

Many younger generations are also shifting away from alcohol to cannabis as their go-to recreational substance. This has resulted in the rise of cannabis-infused NA drinks. These beverages offer consumers a discreet and smoke-free alternative to cannabis consumption. In fact, over one in four Americans plan to try these cannabis-infused drinks, with Gen Z and Millenials being particularly interested (Circana).

As consumer preferences continue to evolve at a rapid rate, Devine, Hansen and Lovenmark-Hay all agree that there is much more innovation to come in the NA beverage space, and that they are only just scratching the surface. While trends may come and go, Devine is confident that the NA movement marks a long-term shift in drinking culture.

“This is not going anywhere. This is here to stay, and I think anyone who doesn’t realize that is really missing what is going on out there. This is a movement,” said Devine.

Her first book, Three Cheers, which hit shelves in October, is packed with recipes for 55 cocktails, but her approach brings every kind of drinker into the fold. Each page features recipe variations for the classic, Stewart’s creative twist and a fully non-alcoholic version of the same cocktail. For her, it’s not so much about catering to drinkers or non-drinkers, but about dismantling the hierarchy that’s kept them apart.

“If you’re feeling like a Negroni, but you’re not wanting to drink, you can flip to the Negroni page and check out the non-alcoholic recipe,” she said. “You’ll know it’s going to be as equally [as] well thought-out as the classic or my version of it.”

Stewart has created recipes for cocktail menus in the past, but Three Cheers is the first publication that’s entirely hers. There’s no mistaking it, Three Cheers screams Stewart’s personal brand of skill, playfulness and inclusivity. Stewart is known for her inventive approach behind the bar, but for the book, she kept a broad audience in mind. “I can get super creative and do wild and crazy things,” she said, “but I reeled it in for the book. I didn’t want people to flip open to a page and see a recipe that called for an infusion, a syrup and 20 steps. That’s intimidating. I wanted the drinks to be accessible.”

Those driving forces – accessibility and inclusivity – speak to a larger cultural shift in which consumers value quality and nuance, while having the freedom to imbibe or not. That doesn’t mean her reader is necessarily a drinker or a non-drinker; rather, they value flexibility. “People are drinking more mindfully now,” she said. “One day they’ll have an alcoholic drink, and the next, they’ll choose a non-alcoholic version. In Three Cheers, each version is as important as the next.”

For Stewart, her Negroni trio ended up being one of her favourites in the book. She created the classic, her version called “High and Dry” (“a Negroni with training wheels”) and the spirit-free “No-Groni,” which leans into Italian bitters, tricking the brain just enough to feel familiar.

Especially when it came to spirit-forward cocktails like a Negroni or Old Fashioned, Stewart was up for the challenge. Translating those into non-alcoholic versions meant rethinking texture, mouthfeel and that elusive “burn” most alcohol-free spirits struggle to replicate. “That really distinct characteristic of alcohol – that lingering burn – it’s hard to recreate,” she said. “So, I used other bittering agents that give you that drying effect. It was a task, but it was a fun task.”

It was her mission to create non-alcoholic drink recipes that tasted just as good, if not better, than the real thing. “I have a lot of people in my life who don’t drink, and it was really important to create a book that was as inclusive as possible,” she said. “When I first started bartending 20 years ago, there were no spirit-free gins, tequilas, aperitifs. It was either a virgin Caesar or a virgin strawberry daiquiri. That’s all you were getting. But now, there’s no excuse.”

Giving equal weight to non-alcoholic cocktails and demonstrating just how complex they can be was strategic. “I hope people see it as a step forward. Especially in the non-alcoholic space, putting those drinks on the same playing field as any cocktail. Just because it’s non-alcoholic doesn’t mean it’s any less than,” she said.

People are drinking more mindfully now. One day they’ll have an alcoholic drink, and the next, they’ll choose a non-alcoholic version. In Three Cheers, each version is as important as the next.

Kaitlyn Stewart

While developing her book, Stewart had to make some tough decisions, starting with which drinks would make the final cut. The concept was built around 55 classic cocktails, but narrowing down that list proved to be one of the biggest challenges.

“Choosing those 55 cocktails was probably the hardest part,” Stewart said. “I really tried to spread the base spirits evenly. I didn’t want it to be all gin or all bourbon. I wanted to give each spirit a fair shot.” That meant including a few drinks that might raise eyebrows among purists. “There’s a Sex on the Beach in there,” she said with a laugh. “When you think of that cocktail, you don’t automatically think classic. But it was fun to play around with those kinds of choices. I didn’t want the book to be too stuffy. I wanted it to be fun.”

Fun plays a huge role in Stewart’s approach to recipe creation. Her creative process is fed by food, music, travel, late-night conversations and childhood memories. “I grew up in the restaurant world,” she said. “My parents ran restaurants, and my grandma was always cooking. I’d sit in the kitchen and watch her turn basic ingredients into a fancy meal. So, when I’m eating something now, say, a Thai green curry, my brain starts to dissect it. I think, ‘This makes sense in food, so why couldn’t it work in a cocktail?’”

Naming the drinks is one of her favourite parts. “A lot of people hate naming cocktails. I really love naming them,” she said. “A lot of the time I name them after song titles or lyrics, something I’ve listened to and thought, ‘That would sound really good as a drink.’” For instance, in Three Cheers, her version of a French 75 is the Eiffel 65 (Millennials will remember). It was her signature Tom Cat Collins (inspired by her cats, obviously) that helped her bag the World Class championship round.

Whether she’s behind the bar, in competition or now as an author, Stewart’s aim is to be unapologetically herself. “I wanted Three Cheers to feel like I was inviting you into my home. I wanted readers to feel comfortable, like they could make these recipes in their kitchen. It was made to feel personal and intentional,” she said. That means that while she loves a studio-ready image of the perfect cocktail, you won’t find that in Three Cheers. “We approached our photography in a grassroots way, with lots of natural light. It’s all very authentic.”

For its imagery, the entire shoot took place in Stewart’s apartment, captured by a friend who usually photographs people, not cocktails. She wasn’t interested in fancy backdrops, fake condensation or over-styled glassware, either. They worked with whatever natural light was coming through the windows that day.

Stewart has gotten used to inviting her audience into her home. Her social media followers get a daily glimpse of her life at her home bar, along with tutorials and education on cocktails ranging from classic margaritas to a cilantro, chocolate spritz. Finding popularity on social media wasn’t something Stewart ever planned, though it’s turned out to be an unexpected asset. She now uses her audience as a kind of real-time focus group, especially when curating menus or developing recipes.

“I’ll look at what’s resonating – what’s getting saved, shared, commented on – and use that to shape what I create. I can see if people are leaning into martinis or spritzes, and that data helps guide my decisions,” said Stewart That sense of collaboration has been infused into much of her career. From building bar teams to working with book editors, Stewart knows how to surround herself with people who make the work better. “If you don’t have a good team, you won’t be as successful,” she said. “As much as my Capricorn side wants to tackle it all myself, I’ve learned you can’t do it all alone.”

Now, with Three Cheers, she’s hoping the book will affect others in the way that all great hospitality does, by making people feel included, no matter where they are.

“Non-alcoholic drinks deserve to be on the same level as any other cocktail, not treated like an afterthought,” she said. For her, it’s a way to push the industry forward, but also make space for more people to feel included, no matter how they choose to drink. “It doesn’t have to be soda or juice. It can be thoughtful, complex and genuinely good. That’s what I hope this book shows: there’s room for everyone at the bar.”

Inside a converted walk-in cooler on Vancouver Island, Dave Brimacombe, founder of Wayward Distillery, spent his early distilling days doing something few would associate with spirit production: warming 640-pound drums of crystallized honey. Wayward Distillery is a honey-based operation that specializes in crafting premium spirits made entirely from fermented B.C. honey.

“We converted a walk-in fridge into a walk-in heater,” said Brimacombe. “We kept barrels of honey there for two weeks so that the heat would get into them slowly. If you cook a barrel of honey, you destroy a lot of its protein.” The goal was to preserve the integrity of the material because honey, as it turns out, is a deeply challenging and incredibly rewarding ingredient in craft distilling.

While grains, molasses and fruit have long been the standard for fermentation, some Canadian distillers are turning to honey for its natural complexity, regional character and consumer appeal. Working with honey isn’t easy. It’s expensive, temperamental and doesn’t always fit into existing spirit categories or regulatory frameworks. For the producers who are wildly passionate about this liquid gold, however, that’s exactly what makes it worth the effort.

A buzzworthy ingredient

With increasing consumer demand for sustainable, local products, honey spirits sweeten the deal. Honey is a naturally renewable resource and, when produced responsibly, the harvest supports healthy bee populations, which are critical pollinators for a wide variety of flowering crops and vegetables.

Unlike traditional agricultural crops, honey doesn’t require planting, irrigation or soil disturbance, making its environmental footprint remarkably low. This means that honey-based spirits not only deliver flavour but also align with values of ecological stewardship and biodiversity.

Honey spirit gives you a light, delicate mouthfeel. It’s easy drinking, floral, fruity and it doesn’t have that big, oily mouthfeel you get from some cereal grains.

Jordan Ramey, Burwood Distillery

In B.C., where distillers must use 100 per cent local agricultural inputs, honey provides both a practical and ethical advantage for producers. “We work with honey because it’s a sustainable food source,” said Brimacombe. “Using all B.C. wheat, corn or fruit takes a lot of food out of our food web. Honey is a byproduct of food production.” The alignment with sustainability and provincial pride is echoed across the country.

At Alberta’s Burwood Distillery, honey became a core ingredient thanks to a founding partnership between Ivan Cilic, Jordan Ramey and Marko Cilic, a local beekeeper. What began as a practical decision – using excess honey to create spirits – grew into a commitment to celebrate Alberta’s agricultural heritage. “… we wanted to see what we could make with it,” said co-founder Ramey. “Other producers make mead, so why can’t [we], as a distillery, make a novel product featuring our local apiaries and craft something that’s unique in this part of the world?”

Chemically, honey is unlike other fermentable ingredients. Honey contains a mix of simple and complex sugars, acids, enzymes and trace phenolics, some of which break down during fermentation to create alcohol and aroma compounds, while others survive even the high heat of distillation, leading to notes of fruit, spice or floral sweetness in the final spirit. Honey-based spirits are often lighter, softer and more floral than their grain or molasses-based counterparts.

“Honey spirit gives you a light, delicate mouthfeel,” said Ramey. “It’s easy drinking, floral, fruity and it doesn’t have that big, oily mouthfeel you get from some cereal grains.” Wayward’s honey vodka, gin and rum alternative all retain that character, despite being triple-distilled and unflavoured.

“Honey tastes good all the way through, which means we start with a base that already has a really positive flavour profile in distillation,” said Brimacombe. “It’s got a nice viscosity, natural oils from fermentation and a softness that carries through.”

Sticky situations

If honey offers beautiful flavour and ethical sourcing, it demands repayment in logistics. For starters, it doesn’t pour. Wayward receives honey in 200-litre drums, each weighing more than 600 pounds. Its early days involved scooping 50-pound batches by hand using four-cup measuring scoops. Eventually, they developed a custom process using hot water injection and a specialized pump to liquefy and move the honey safely and efficiently.

That amount of honey isn’t exactly cheap. While grains cost mere cents per litre, honey is a premium ingredient – anywhere between four to eight times the price of malted grain, according to Ramey. This makes honey-based spirits significantly more expensive to produce, and almost impossible to scale cheaply.

Faced with this reality, Wayward had to pivot. When the pandemic shifted consumer spending, Brimacombe reimagined his 100 per cent honey approach, focusing honey’s use where it truly impacted flavour and quality, in products like Unruly Vodka, Unruly Gin and Drunken Hive Rum. For more accessible offerings, he introduced ethically sourced, pollinator-friendly grain that’s glyphosate-free, spray-free and fully traceable, keeping Wayward’s values intact.

A new challenge that appeared? Educating consumers. “We are a honey-centric distillery that has three products made 100 per cent from B.C. honey, and then everything else we do is pollinator-friendly,” said Brimacombe. “We use honey whenever we use sweetener. We had to communicate the difference between ‘made with honey’ and ‘made from honey.’”

Ramey faced this issue with Burwood’s first product, too. “Our first product was called Single Hive, like single malt,” he said. “But people were confused. Was it rum? Was it whisky? We wanted to tell people that it was a barrel-aged honey spirit, and it kind of tastes like rum and kind of tastes like a Scottish single malt, but there’s no grain in it. It’s hard to tell that branding story quickly.”

This challenge pushed Burwood to experiment and refine its approach, leading to the creation of The Bee Whisperer, a blend of its single-malt whisky and barrel-aged honey spirit. To make the honey spirit component, Burwood first dilutes the honey so it can ferment properly. Then, it ferments for about a week using Chardonnay yeast along with some wild microbes, which adds unique floral and botanical flavours. After fermentation, the spirit is distilled twice, just like traditional whisky, and aged in used American bourbon barrels for up to seven years.

“This honey spirit makes up about 10 per cent of the final blend, with the other 90 per cent being single malt whisky,” said Ramey. “The result is a Canadian whisky that tastes smooth and familiar, but with a subtle, wildflower-like twist.”

Honey spirits exist in a regulatory grey zone. In Canada, spirits like vodka, whisky and rum are defined by their base ingredients – typically grain, potatoes or sugarcane byproducts – which leaves little room for experimentation with ingredients like honey. This has created significant hurdles for producers trying to innovate. Wayward, for example, wasn’t allowed to label its honey-based spirit as vodka until 2018, because it didn’t meet the grain or potato requirement.

In Alberta, Burwood has taken a proactive approach, working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to create an entirely new category: Canadian rum, made from honey. The effort began with an unusual byproduct from beekeeping. When cleaning hive frames, leftover caramelized sugars form a dark, sticky substance. There was no good use for it, it couldn’t be dumped without causing environmental issues and storing it was a logistical burden.

Burwood began experimenting. Partnering with government researchers, it explored whether the substance could be treated like molasses: fermented, distilled and aged to create a rum-like spirit. The result is a bold, spiced honey spirit that’s low-cost and helps reduce farm waste.

According to federal regulations, however, it still doesn’t qualify as rum. Even though the base material is chemically and functionally similar to molasses, it doesn’t come from sugarcane, so it falls outside the current definition. As a workaround, Burwood markets the product as “rhum,” a tongue-in-cheek nod to the regulatory ambiguity. So far, the CFIA is open to the idea of a new category, but it needs more producers to participate before a formal designation can be made.

Blossom to bottle

Just as grapes and grains express their growing conditions, honey reflects the plants, flowers and climate from which bees forage. This is why distillers are highly selective about floral origin.

Honey has a naturally wide range of flavour profiles depending on the flowers the bees forage from. These are known as varietals. While all honey shares a familiar sweetness, each varietal carries unique floral notes layered on top. Distillation concentrates those flavours, allowing the identity of each honey varietal to shine through. At Wayward, the focus is on wild clover honey.

“The bees pollinate crops all over B.C., then rest on the wild clover fields in B.C.’s north,” said Brimacombe. “It’s an efficient food source for the bees, when you consider the density of one cubic metre of clover versus one cubic metre of, say, raspberries.”

It’s ideal both for the bees and distillers aiming for reliable yields and a balanced, floral spirit. Burwood, on the other hand, works with blended “prairie mix” honey, made up of canola, clover, wildflowers and myriad other varieties that Alberta bees encounter. “It’s bloom time in Alberta in a bottle,” said Ramey. “I get wildflower, honeysuckle [and] rose aroma. Some people say lavender; some get raw vegetal notes.”

Honey characteristics vary year to year based on climate, rainfall and blooming cycles. To maintain consistent spirit quality, the distilleries rely on detailed blending, sensory profiling and, in Wayward’s case, automated fermentation analysis using equipment they co-developed with a local college.

For Wayward, its mono-floral approach not only helps standardize flavour but also ensures a consistently higher sugar content than found in generic grocery store honey, which often contains more water. Higher sugar concentration leads to more efficient fermentation, better alcohol yields and fewer unwanted off-flavours, allowing for greater control over the final spirit.

While finding the right honey is an art, Wayward’s methods are also backed by a healthy dose of science. “Honey changes from barrel to barrel, so we built an automated system with a PhD chemist,” said Brimacombe. “It samples the ferment every 20 minutes, tracking 23 points like pH and Brix. After 100-plus ferments, we know exactly how to adjust – like adding water if the honey is sweeter – to maintain consistency.”

For Burwood, honey can vary a lot depending on the season and what the bees are foraging on, but it has a few ways to keep things consistent. First, the honey it uses is already blended by its producers at the end of the season, so it’s not working with wildly different batches from different months. When it’s time to blend the final product, samples are pulled from a large pool of barrels and only the ones that meet the flavour profile are selected. Every blend goes through tasting panels and small-scale trials before it gets scaled up. It also accounts for differences in barrel aging: where the barrel sits in the warehouse, how it’s made and even Alberta’s dry climate, which affects how the spirit matures.

A sweet shift

As Canadian drinkers grow more conscious about what they consume, and where it comes from, honey offers craft distillers a mix of story, substance and sensory intrigue. While it may not yet have the mainstream recognition of wine or whisky, that’s starting to change. Honey spirits are carving out their place in the industry and challenging drinkers to think differently about what’s in their glass.

“One of the biggest challenges with honey-based spirits is this strange disconnect in how people think about them,” said Brimacombe. “Consumers understand that beer is brewed locally, or that wine comes from a nearby vineyard. It’s visible, it’s agricultural and it supports the local economy. But something weird happens when you turn that beer or wine into vodka or gin: people stop caring about where it comes from.” That disconnect, he notes, is starting to shift.

“People are beginning to ask where their spirits come from, just like they do with food, wine and beer. I’m excited to be here when they do to say, ‘Hey, here’s something ethically sourced, sustainable, low-water and made from honey. It’s lovely. Give it a try.’”

Knegt’s electric tractor was designed with horticulture, green house and livestock operations in mind. It has been available in Europe for six years and was introduced in North America courtesy of MAP Agri in September 2023. MAP Agri president Marty Philippi says the Knegt electric tractor is ideal for vineyard operations. The primary advantage it offers vineyards over conventional diesel tractors is that it produces no exhaust fumes.

“The biggest benefit, particularly for vineyards, is your grape is really your product and if you’re running down the field and not discharging diesel fumes, you’re going to end up with a much better quality of grape,” Philippi said.

The green appeal of Knegt’s electric offering could also help vineyards connect with a customer base that has become increasingly interested in how the products they consume are crafted. “A big part of the whole vineyard industry is marketing your position in sustainability,” Philippi said.

He acknowledges that the cost of the Knegt electric tractor is higher than for a diesel model. Depending on the model and options chosen, it can be about 25 per cent more than its diesel counterpart. However, he says additional expenditure can be quickly recouped through reduced fuel and maintenance costs. A high-capacity lithium battery provides all the power the tractor and any attachments used might require. It also requires far less frequent servicing and maintenance than a diesel tractor.

“You’ve taken out 90 per cent of the maintenance,” Philippi said. “Apart from changing [the] hydraulic oil and filter once a year, and making sure you’ve greased and oiled your moving equipment, all diesel and related fuel maintenance is gone. You’ve taken all of that out of the equation. Electric engines will just run for years and years without much maintenance, without much grief.”

Knegt offers three versions of its compact electric tractor: 45HP, 55HP and 65HP. Each has an optional cab enclosure with well-appointed features. Other optional accessories include an external battery, front loader, towbar and front lift. The electric motor that powers the tractor is manufactured by the Benevelli Group of Italy, which is touted as one of the leading electric motor companies in the world.

Philippi says the tractor’s primary battery can last for between three and six hours depending on the kind of work its tasked to perform. The more arduous the task, the shorter the working time of the battery. An optional, externally-attached secondary battery can be used to extend the working time of the tractor. That means an operator can get up to 10 hours of work out of the tractor before having to park and recharge it.

Apart from changing [the] hydraulic oil and filter once a year, and making sure you’ve greased and oiled your moving equipment, all diesel and related fuel maintenance is gone. You’ve taken all of that out of the equation.

Marty Philippi, MAP Agri

Philippi says the electric tractor doesn’t require any specialized infrastructure to recharge its batteries. A dedicated plug and charger are included with each model. It can be fully charged overnight on 110V power and in about six hours on 220V. In addition, it can be charged to 80 per cent in about three hours if the operator has access to three-phase power.

MAP Agri’s president acknowledges the tractor’s battery-powered system can lose power more quickly during cooler, winter weather. That’s why his company asked Knegt to include a battery preconditioner in each model destined for North America. It kicks in when the temperature reaches two degrees Celsius or lower, and helps to regulate the temperature of the battery so it stays at an optimal warmth and doesn’t lose any power needlessly.

The tractor is suited to perform a number of different tasks on a winery, according to Philippi, including trimming, landscaping, and moving barrels and harvested grapes. His company is also in discussions with a technology company about adding features such as robotic spraying, data gathering and other precision farming tech.

On its surface, Knegt’s electric tractor looks no different than its diesel counterpart. The only real difference between the two is that the company has replaced its diesel engine “guts” with an exhaust-free battery system. The electric tractor drives and performs pretty much the same as any other tractor. The only difference an experienced operator will notice is the immediate torque its electric battery provides for both the drive train and any attachments. That means revving the engine at the start is not required and it’s “nearly impossible” to stall the machine, Philippi says. “The rest is just like driving a tractor. If you were ever a kid and rode on a tractor you’ll know right away how to drive it,” he said.

To date, MAP Agri has sold half a dozen of the electric tractors to customers in Canada and the U.S. Feedback has been largely positive so far. One of the most common comments Philippi has heard from customers, including a couple of vineyards, is how quiet the machines are.

“The biggest thing is … these guys can actually hear their [other] equipment operating while they’re driving. If you’ve got a flail mower or some kind of sprayer going, with a diesel [motor], you probably won’t hear the sound of that equipment. With this, if something doesn’t sound right, you can stop and fix it right away. That actually happened on one of our demos. The farmer noticed the flail mower wasn’t working, stopped, fixed it and then kept on going. He was thrilled because it meant he could prevent a lot of errors.”

A number of people who have tried out the electric tractor have also commented on how they enjoy the fact they don’t have to lug around a can of diesel fuel with them when they are operating it. They’re also happy that they don’t have to inhale diesel fumes whenever they are working inside a barn or storage facility.

Philippi says Knegt has designed its electric tractor with simplicity in mind. That means that if a part has to be replaced, it can easily be swapped out with a North American-made replacement. Similarly, if there is an issue with its battery management system, it can be hooked directly to the factory through a dongle that attaches to a computer to diagnose the problem and fix it in a matter of minutes. It’s also compatible with most brands of attachments.

MAP Agri has signed distribution agreements with Canadian dealers in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta. It also expects to sign deals with U.S. dealers in New York and Montana, and is looking to extend its reach into California. While electric tractors are still a relatively new idea, Philippi is confident there is a market for them.

“I don’t see a wholesale transition, not yet. We’re still at the leading, bleeding edge as it were. It’s going to take demonstrations, trials and word of mouth,” he said. “I’m confident we’ll get a certain segment of the market. We won’t get it all because some people don’t want to go away from their trusted diesel engine, and that will still be an option for some operations and vineyards. The ones that are concerned about the environment, they’ll be the ones that will accept [it]. As that becomes increasingly important, that acceptance will grow.”

You’ve tinkered and tested and trialed your product until it’s reached perfection – now, it’s ready to be entered into a competition. Whether you’re a brewer, distiller or vintner, there’s bound to be some anxiety associated with competing if it’s your first go-around. Will you take home a top prize and bragging rights, or walk away with nothing to show except a bruised ego?

We approached the experts to learn the inside scoop about what’s going on inside the judges’ minds as they score your entry. From getting a spirit’s texture just right, to integrating a wine’s components flawlessly or nailing a beer’s intention, these are the tangible – and sometimes intangible – qualities that will help an entry make a lasting impression.

Precision over power

When it comes to competitions, what stands out has changed over time.

For wine, bold, fruit-forward entries have historically dominated competitions. Their immediate impact is undeniable, particularly in settings where judges might evaluate 50 or more wines a day. These wines made a quick impression with their big, expressive flavours, establishing them as the favourites of many competitions. However, in recent years, there’s been a notable shift. Wines that showcase precision, balance and energy are increasingly taking home top medals.

Natalie MacLean, bestselling author of Red, White and Drunk All Over, Unquenchable and Wine Witch on Fire, and the World’s Best Drinks Writer according to the World Food Media Awards, said, “These wines might not be the loudest voices in the room, but they speak with a clear message.”

The appreciation for precision is expanding beyond wine. In fact, one of the most memorable tasting experiences for Charlene Rooke, drinks editor for LCBO Food & Drink, Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) spirits educator and lead judge at the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition, came from a unique and refined spirit.

“I blind-tasted what was identified as a braggot (a malted-barley and hop spirit that derives from both beer and honey). That was the first one I’d ever tasted or heard of! And I’m quite fascinated by the Acerum – [a] spirit distilled from maple syrup – coming out of Quebec. They remind me of funky, Agricole-style rums,” said Rooke.

The nuances are stopping judges in their tracks these days.

Getting competition-ready

To make sure a product is ready for judging, experts suggest recreating the competition atmosphere long before you enter. One of the best ways to prepare is by blind-tasting your products in advance. This can be especially helpful for brewers or distillers with a broad portfolio.

“Taste your beers blindly,” said Lauren Richard, head judge of the 2024 Canada Beer Cup. “Maybe you have a lot of lagers. Invite your staff to go through them without bias, focusing on the ingredients and the intention behind each brew. Have you achieved that intention, or are you pulling from different categories?”

Rooke agrees, noting the importance of collecting as much feedback as possible in the preparation process. “For spirits, it’s essential to consistently taste your products with sensory panels that include not just production staff, but also others within your distillery, and even members from outside the industry,” she said. “Tasting against competitor products before you bottle your spirit ensures consistency and the balanced quality that’s essential for success.”

Taking time to evaluate your product from multiple angles to get a wide range of opinions is your best chance at making sure your entry is prepared for the competition stage.

Creating a winning product

So, what does it take to snag the top prize? For spirits, while complexity and aroma are key factors, there’s one characteristic that can really set your product apart: texture.

“In craft spirits, what really makes a product stand out is its smoothness,” said Rooke. “Many spirits may have intriguing flavours, but if the alcohol isn’t well-integrated or if the texture is rough, it detracts from the overall experience. A smooth, refined texture elevates the product, allowing all the elements – flavours, aromas and body – to shine through.”

For wine, the ability to tell a compelling story in a glass is what earns MacLean’s top marks.

“What makes a wine stand out is its ability to evolve from the first sip to the finish,” she said. “It should reveal layers of complexity. These wines don’t shout for attention – they engage with you, telling a story about their origin and their development over time. When a wine integrates its components – acidity, tannins, alcohol, fruit and aroma – in a harmonious way, it performs well.”

The intangible factor

While technical perfection is somewhat expected in a competition setting, there’s one intangible quality that can set a product apart, something that can’t be quantified on a scorecard: the excitement, surprise or emotional connection a product elicits. That’s what turns a good product into something unforgettable.

“It’s never just about technical perfection,” said MacLean. “There’s something exciting, even surprising, that sets great wines apart. When a wine can transport you to the vineyard, evoking the soil, the climate and even the winemaker’s philosophy, that’s when it transcends being just a good wine – it connects with you emotionally.”

While that quality may not be something a judge can score, there’s no doubt it will set your product apart from the others.

In craft spirits, what really makes a product stand out is its smoothness. Many spirits may have intriguing flavours, but if the alcohol isn’t well-integrated or if the texture is rough, it detracts from the overall experience. A smooth, refined texture elevates the product, allowing all the elements – flavours, aromas and body – to shine through.

Charlene Rooke, lead judge of the Canadian Artisan Spirits Competition and WSET drinks editor

“The intangibles are something you can’t define with a guideline,” said Richard. “It’s like hearing a singer hit a high C, but there’s a texture, a quality, something refined – and unrefined – that lets you feel it deeper.” It’s exactly this quality – the emotional resonance – that helped solidify one beer into Richard’s mind forever.

She recalls a recent Best of Show competition where a Pile O’ Bones Witbier caught the judges’ attention. “It gave us chills,” she said. “It came down to two beers. The one that wasn’t selected was technically perfect – it was clean, crisp and hit all the marks. But the Witbier, we couldn’t stop talking about it. It solidified a moment in time, and we knew we’d remember it long after the competition.”

Editor’s Note: read our exclusive interview with Pile O’ Bones on their 2024 Canada Beer Cup win.

Go in with a strategy

Perhaps the lowest-hanging fruit from our experts is to know your product better than anyone else and be sure to communicate its intention clearly. This is key for standing out in a competition environment, which is far different from a casual bar setting.

“If you say your beer is barrel-aged in cognac, make sure that characteristic is evident,” said Richard. “Don’t mislead judges with claims that the beer can’t back up. We judge based on your description, so be clear about your intention.”

“If you’ve crafted a high-ester rum or a cask-strength whisky, it’s important to note that in your product notes – it can influence the way judges evaluate it,” Rooke said.

The competition environment is also unique in how products are experienced, so select an entry that performs well under the pressures of judging.“ First-time entrants often make the mistake of entering their most expensive or ambitious wine. I recommend starting with your most consistent performer – something that shows well across various temperatures and timeframes, even after hours of being open. That’s what your product will face during competition,” said MacLean.

Is it true that there are make-or-break moments from the first sip? Considering that a competition panel is a highly focused, critical environment, technical flaws can immediately disqualify a product, and there are some issues that are impossible to recover from. “Technical flaws like excessive volatile acidity or Brettanomyces can immediately disqualify a wine,” said MacLean.

Rooke calls out another common mistake in spirits. “I find that most liqueurs and many flavoured spirits I judge are too sweet,” she said. “Dialed-back sweetness means flavoured products can be used in cocktails as well as consumed on their own, which is a more versatile product.”

And there is one other unfortunate fault that doesn’t only hurt an entry, but the judges, too. “Every competition, we’ll try beers that are truly exceptional, but have been entered into the wrong category,” said Richard. “For that reason, we can’t put it forward. It’s tragic.”

Getting creative

Experimental categories offer an opportunity to showcase your creative side, but they come with a caveat: Unique ingredients should complement, not mask, the core qualities of your product.

“Even when I’m judging a very strong or unusual spirit – from a garlic, hot-pepper or pickle-flavoured vodka to spiced rum – I still expect it to be balanced in its aromas, flavours and texture,” said Rooke. “Flavours or experimental ingredients probably can’t disguise a base spirit that is poorly distilled or blended.”

It came down to two beers. The one that wasn’t selected was technically perfect – it was clean, crisp and hit all the marks. But the Witbier, we couldn’t stop talking about it. It solidified a moment in time, and we knew we’d remember it long after the competition.

Lauren Richard, head judge of the 2024 Canada Beer Cup

Evolving trends

As consumer palates and preferences are changing, competitions are following suit – something Richard applauds.

“We’ve made a lot of changes to the Canada Beer Cup guidelines this year because of heavy shifts in trends, one of them being low alcohol [beers],” she said. “These trends are happening more frequently in the bars and we’re working to make more space for that in the competition sphere.”

Another shift MacLean has seen is the integration of environmental responsibility into judging criteria. Some competitions award additional points for certified organic or biodynamic practices, carbon neutral production or even innovative sustainable packaging.

“What’s interesting is that this has pushed wineries to not only adapt to these practices, but also to perfect them,” she said. “We’re now seeing sustainable wines that don’t just compete with conventional wines – they outperform them.”

While these trends are exciting, there’s one attribute that’s always in style at competitions: Balanced, well-crafted products. “Balance has become the ultimate marker of success,” said MacLean. “I’ve seen technically perfect wines fail to win a medal because they were manufactured rather than crafted. They lacked the tension and energy that make a wine great. It’s not about sheer power anymore. It’s also about poise.”

Ultimately, whether it’s wine, spirits or beer, the principles of balance and craftsmanship hold true across the board.

“We want the beer to fit into the guidelines as much as possible. Some things don’t fit neatly into a box, and that’s okay – that’s why we have experimental categories. But the beer needs to be brewed cleanly, expressively and in a well-balanced way. It’s [about] the attention to detail – the cleanliness, freshness and using ingredients you believe in.”

Kelly Mean, manager of prevention field services at WorkSafeBC and a former professional winemaker, understands how difficult navigating health and safety regulations can be for new businesses. “As someone with experience in both the alcohol industry and health and safety, I understand that navigating regulations can seem daunting at first. However, these guidelines are essential for keeping workers safe….”

Mean emphasizes that WorkSafeBC’s goal is to help employers keep workers safe by providing education and consultation, and by enforcing The Workers’ Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

Deciding who gets inspected and when

WorkSafeBC classifies breweries and wineries as moderate-risk facilities. This classification means that WorkSafeBC officers will check in occasionally, but not as frequently as they do with high-risk facilities like construction sites. WorkSafeBC Prevention Officers prioritize inspections based on data-driven risk assessments. They focus on sectors and employers where the risk of worker injury is highest.

Several factors influence these inspections, including the number of claims submitted by a facility, sector-wide claim numbers, the timing of the last inspection and concerns raised by workers, family members or the public. Even media reports can affect the priority of an inspection. As a result, a brewery, winery or distillery may receive a visit from a WorkSafeBC officer due to a report, complaint or other issue that prompts action. However, sometimes an officer might also conduct an impromptu inspection if they are in the area, regardless of whether the facility is on their list.

If an officer identifies a violation, they typically issue a corrective order that outlines the problem, provides recommendations for how to fix it and sets a deadline for compliance. If the issue isn’t resolved by the time of a follow-up inspection, the officer may issue a warning letter and even impose a financial penalty.

However, for high-risk violations that have the potential to cause serious injury or fatality, officers may immediately issue a financial penalty along with corrective orders. An example of a high-risk violation would be someone entering a confined space without proper protective measures in place.

How health and safety affect the bottom line

Health and safety measures not only keep workers safe, but also impact a business’s bottom line. Brewery and winery owners in British Columbia are required to pay insurance premiums to WorkSafeBC. This insurance protects them from lawsuits related to worker compensation for work-related injuries and illnesses.

In 2024, the industry base premium rate for breweries was $1.38 per $100 of payroll. In 2025, this rate is forecasted to be $1.36 per $100 of payroll. This projected decrease in the premium rate is good news, as it indicates that claims from the brewing industry are expected to decline.

If most breweries maintain good health and safety programs, and in turn have fewer claims, this benefits the entire industry by decreasing the industry’s base insurance premium rate.

However, an employer’s individual health and safety record also impacts the premiums they pay. An individual brewery that has injury claims above the average for the sector will pay insurance premiums that are higher than the base rate. There is no maximum on how high an employer insurance premium can be increased. Conversely, if a brewery has claims that are below the industry average, they will receive a discount on their premiums, up to 40 per cent.

Having a strong health and safety program is also a competitive advantage. Research shows businesses that make health and safety core to their culture benefit from improved worker retention. In addition to paying lower premiums, they are better able to attract talent who want to work with organizations that listen and are focused on their well-being.

Focus on risk management basics

During inspections, WorkSafeBC officers first examine what is causing injuries in the workplace. Then they take a general look at the facility and ask questions to determine what health and safety measures are in place. An example of a question the officer would ask is whether the facility has a joint health and safety committee or worker representative. Officers will also look at what programs and processes are in place to protect workers from confined spaces, and employer investigations into incidents.

Mean says that her officers emphasize risk management, which refers to the systems that an employer should automatically have in place to control or eliminate risks.

Most common injuries in alcohol manufacturing

One of the most common injury claims Mean sees is overexertion, which occurs when a person undertakes repetitive actions such as lifting grain bags. Being struck by something like a forklift or falling load, falling from a height and falling from the same level (tripping) are also common injuries. Since most craft breweries operate in small, congested spaces, hoses and other equipment make for common tripping hazards.

Brewers, winemakers and distillers work in an environment where they have easy access to alcohol. For this reason, Dave Vander Plaat, co-founder of Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, Alta., has developed clear policies regarding when alcohol consumption is allowed at his brewery:

• It is the employer’s responsibility to identify workplace hazards and put controls in place to protect employees from these hazards.
• Training must be provided whenever an employee is assigned a new task or moved to a new role.
• Employers must ensure that their employees are competent at the jobs they have been given.

Required personal protective equipment (PPE)

In the hierarchy of controls – a method of identifying and ranking safeguards to protect workers from hazards – it’s well established that PPE is at the bottom. This means that PPE should be the last thing considered when looking at how to protect workers on the job. If the hazard cannot be eliminated, substituted or managed through administrative controls, then PPE must be worn.

Mean notes that the appropriate PPE depends on the task at hand. If an employee is working with a hazardous chemical, such as caustic soda, they should consult the accompanying safety data sheet to determine the appropriate PPE.

At Blindman Brewing, which employs 22 full-time staff and 12 part-time staff, they have clear guidelines on what PPE is needed to perform each task. Brewers are required to wear long pants to avoid direct skin contact with chemicals and hot surfaces. Insulated rubber gloves are also required for certain tasks, and hearing protection is required on days when they centrifuge their beer for filtration.

Expanding mental health policies

As the importance of psychological health and safety becomes more widely discussed, Mean says that managing psychological health and safety in the workplace is as important as managing physical health and safety. A psychologically healthy and safe workplace prevents harm to workers’ mental health and promotes mental well-being. While many factors outside the workplace can affect mental health, it is an employer’s responsibility to address the factors that are within the control, responsibility or influence of the workplace.

Currently, WorkSafeBC requires employers to have bullying and harassment policies. While wellness plans for employees are recommended, they are not mandatory.

Mean says that if a worker informs their employer about a mental health concern that affects their job performance, the employer must quickly address it. If the worker gets injured as a result of being psychologically unwell, WorkSafeBC could deem that the employer provided unsafe working conditions that placed the worker in harm’s way.

Fostering a strong health and safety culture

Employers should endeavour to develop a work and safety culture where people feel comfortable reporting issues. Ultimately, creating this environment starts at the top, with management. “We make rules. We have to, but safety doesn’t come because of rules, it comes because of good safety culture,” said Plaat.

He finds that management gets a lot of traction just by constantly talking about safety. Safety becomes ingrained in employees’ minds and is simply a part of the way they operate there.

Plaat highlights two key factors that encourage his employees to report issues: First, reporting issues must be quick and easy. At Blindman Brewing, they have “two-minute, near miss” cards. Employees fill these cards out when they observe a safety issue or hazard in the brewery. These cards take less than two minutes to fill out and drop in a box. Employees don’t even have to write their names on the cards.

Second, reporting issues should never be a blame game.

“It has to be a culture of ‘we are all in this together,’ and ‘we’re trying to make things safe for everybody here.’ We don’t want to place blame or find someone to find fault with,” said Plaat.

Resources

WorkSafeBC provides a variety of industry-specific guidelines for alcoholic beverage production facilities. They also have a Prevention Information line, where employers and workers can call for answers to their health and safety questions. People can also sign up on their website to get the latest news and policy updates.

“When we go to a restaurant and people asked for our names, we had to spell it or people would pronounce it like a Ford car. We wanted a name that spoke to our family, farm and heritage. We wanted just one word that said it for us,” she said.

The name they decided on was Singletree Winery. The vineyard is situated on 14.5 acres of a 67-acre property in picturesque Mount Lehman, a small rural community that was incorporated into Abbotsford in 1995 as part of the District of Matsqui incorporation. A ‘singletree’ is a single harness yoke that was commonly used in the late 1800s to cultivate fertile land in that area.

“We fell in love with it right away,” said Debbie. “A singletree is the implement that was pulled behind workhorses in the fields. You can very much imagine this property when it had a lot of trees, and when it was cleared, there definitely would have been workhorses and singletrees.”

Singletree Winery was founded in 2010 by Garnet and Debbie, but its origins stretch back further. Garnet and Debbie were city kids, and Garnet obtained a degree in animal science and found work milking cows after he graduated. They soon realized the challenges they faced if they wanted to begin their farming operation, so Garnet returned to university and became a chartered accountant.

Just like the old TV show, Green Acres, Garnet had a dream to become a farmer and the duo promised themselves that if they hadn’t owned a farm by the time they turned 42, the dream was over. In 2000, two months before he turned 42, they purchased a 67-acre turkey farm.

The Etsell family lived comfortably on the farm until their two sons expressed a desire to work on the operation. With the need to create an enterprise that would support three families, they encouraged the oldest son, Andrew, to follow his passion, which led him to the University of the Fraser Valley where he obtained a horticultural degree.

A singletree is the implement that was pulled behind workhorses in the fields. You can very much imagine this property when it had a lot of trees, and when it was cleared, there definitely would have been workhorses and singletrees.

Debbie Etsell, Singletree Winery

“You had to have a practicum for your degree and his professor sent him to one of the most well-known wineries in British Columbia for the summer,” said Debbie. “When he came home, he said, ‘Mom and Dad, I think I want to start a winery.’”

After more study at the University of California, Davis, Andrew returned to the farm and spent the next few years studying the land and its potential varieties. The Etsells then planted two acres in 2010, with the majority being white varietals, along with Pinot Noir. They also selected red varietals from other family vineyards grown in the South Okanagan.

Five years after their initial planting, they opened their doors to the public. People flocked to the beautiful scenery on the farm, and within a few months, they had created a picnic area in an old fruit orchard. That area was originally staked out by a gold prospector, James Merryfield, who planted the initial fruit trees. Many of them have survived over time, which makes it an ideal setting for a picnic area.

Singletree now produces a variety of wines, including Vinters Quality Alliance-approved whites, reds and blends. Although most of their wines are sold on-site or online, some are sold through retail outlets, such as Save-On-Foods. Their flagship wine is the Siggy Siegerrebe, which is highly floral with notes of peaches, pears and lychee.

Grüner Veltliner is another popular variety, which the family planted due to friends in Austria. They take an annual ski trip with their friends to the European mountains and felt the grapes that grew in Austria might also perform well in Canada. The area featured similar landscapes: soil, lakes, rivers, mountains and so on. Their hunch proved to be accurate, as their second release won Double Gold for their 2017 Grüner Veltliner in the other white varietal category at the All Canadian Wine Championship (ACWC). They also won an ACWC Gold Medal for their 2014 Harness, a red Bordeaux-style blend.

The winery features a tasting room and the owners have created special events and tours for their clientele. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they opened the “Di Vine Domes,” which are suitable for couples wishing to enjoy a special date or small groups hoping to celebrate a special occasion in a unique venue. Singletree offers two themed domes, Enchanted Forest and Canadian Cabin – both of which offer spectacular chandeliers featuring foliage from around the winery, blankets, heaters, special lights and Bluetooth speakers so customers can create their own ambience. In addition to wine, the domes offer various food options such as charcuterie and chips and dip.

You had to have a practicum for your degree and his professor sent him to one of the most well-known wineries in British Columbia for the summer. When he came home, he said, ‘Mom and Dad, I think I want to start a winery.’

Debbie Etsell, Singletree Winery

“Our tasting room is quite small and we are able to serve about 20 people in there,” said Debbie. “When [COVID-19] hit, we could only have six people in there. We had to figure out a way that people can still come out here and enjoy it. That’s where the Di Vine Domes came about. But it was really tough because it costs thousands of dollars to buy these domes and we had no money coming in at that time. I had to convince my family that this was something that we needed to do, and that was a saving grace during [the pandemic].”

Due to the success of the domes, they also built custom cabanas and added other meal packages such a “S’more and Pour.” The cabanas are designed to offer a cozy environment for outdoor winter wine tasting, and they include firepits and blankets.

The family continues to build upon these experiences. They have become known for Wine Down Friday, which supports local artists in the vineyard, and every second Friday during the summer they host an evening concert.

For the most part, Singletree remains a family run business. They employ two staff from Mexico who are well-versed in maintaining a vineyard and winery. During the busy harvest season, they will often hire upwards of 10 additional staff. The company also employs a half-dozen staff for the tasting room, cabanas and domes.

A trip to Singletree wouldn’t be complete without visiting their three dogs: Autumn, Maddy and Dempsey. They add a delightful touch to the winery experience. Autumn, age 8, is a Shih Tzu Maltese who rules the roost. Maddy, age 7, is the matriarch of the group and is a Bernese Mountain Dog. The most recent addition to the pack is Dempsey, a 7-month-old Bernese, who is named after the actor Patrick Dempsey, due to his black hair and skills as an entertainer. Whether they’re greeting visitors or simply enjoying the vineyard views, their presence surely enhances the charm of the place.

“When people are happy and enjoying our place, then that’s what makes us happy too,” said Debbie.

Blood Brothers Brewing

Toronto, Ont.

Blood Brothers Brewing started in 2015 in an 800-square-foot unit located inside a larger industrial building, but by 2016 it had already outgrown the meagre space. The team knew that to make the brewery profitable, they would need to move.

Luckily, they found a post-industrial space in a century-old horse barn-turned-automotive-garage down the street. Pulling from their network of friends, and a shoestring budget, they hired Borien Studio for the buildout. Leaning into Blood Brothers Brewing’s request of cult, church and horror elements, Borien Studio built a bizarre yet gorgeous alter using brass, reclaimed materials and the Japanese technique of preserving wood through charring, called Shou Sugi Ban, to create a unique, grand space.

After a year or so, the Blood Brothers Brewing team added a large altarpiece of timber and brass behind the main bar, and a custom brass chandelier designed by friends and neighbours, Sixpenny Architectural Fabrication.

Submitted by Blood Brothers Brewing

Kilter Brewing Co.

Winnipeg, Man.

Kilter Brewing Co. creates tropical, exploratory beers. They wanted their taproom to reflect those elements in every possible way through the design. Customers are welcomed into the taproom by lush greenery and a wide variety of seating and décor options that cater to different preferences.

Their space features cozy couches, papasan egg chairs that swing and floor-to-ceiling wallpaper with tropical plants and flamingos. Their bar is completely canopied with green vines, plants and string lights. The back of the taproom features mix-and-match coloured tables surrounded by barrels filled with different beers that have been aging for several years.

The presence of a large glass overhead door at the front of the taproom creates an open-air environment that allows for a seamless integration between the indoor and outdoor space.

Submitted by Kilter Brewing Co.

Container Brewing Ltd.

Vancouver, B.C.

Container Brewing Ltd., located in East Vancouver, opened on Nov. 22, 2019. Container is a brewery that blends passion for craft beer with a commitment to community and diversity.

It was built largely in part by its co-founders Terry Brown and Dan Webster. The design’s intention was to create a bright, minimalist space with a West Coast feel. Incorporating reclaimed wood from the demolition and overhaul of the building, along with indoor planters, helped to realize this vision.

Hand-built tables and benches give warmth to the space, which is made up of unique socializing opportunities through a “nook,” group seating, a bar top and built-in tables for smaller groups. Exposed brick and rafters help bring an old-time industrial feel to the space and connect the lounge experience with the production that takes place on the premises.

Throughout the lounge there are artifacts from the construction of the brewery, which include photographs of found objects and equipment, old bottles and office items left behind. Anything of interest or novelty was incorporated into the aesthetic. Behind the bar is the sole literal nod to the name of the brewery. A corrugated cladding embodies a shipping container and serves as a magnetic menu board.

Submitted by Container Brewing Ltd.

Steam Whistle Brewing

Toronto, Ont.

Steam Whistle Brewing’s taproom creates a rustic feel that is authentic to the brand. The team used natural materials like wood to create a rustic and warm ambiance along with industrial elements like exposed beams, metal fixtures and concrete surfaces to reflect the idea of traditional brewing. They installed warm and ambient lighting to create a cozy atmosphere and showcase artwork of past beer cans along with memorabilia from the brand’s history.

Submitted by Steam Whistle Brewing.

Quidi Vidi Brewery Co.

St. John’s, N.L.

Quidi Vidi Brewery Co. was founded by Dave Fong in 1996. Before that, the brewery was a fish plant, a history which inspired the theme of its taproom.

Quidi Vidi Brewery sits on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and is a 15 minute boat ride away from cod fishing. Fresh cod caught by the brewery’s team are prepared and served in the taproom, which can seat 220 people and consists of three sections: the main and original taproom inside the brewery – which includes the main bar with 16 beers on tap – the upstairs patio and deck, and the seaside deck.

The upstairs patio and deck has a clear roof and is weather-proofed with heaters so customers can sit “outside” 365 days a year and overlook the water. The seaside deck is the brewery’s lower deck, which is at water level. The light fixtures took some effort to source, but the ropes and hooks tie together the taproom’s connection to the sea.

Submitted by Quidi Vidi Brewery Co.